Estate agent altered tenancy agreement without telling us

pmlindyloo

peachyy wrote: »

Yes that is true - I'm ok with paying the £650 to the landlord (they seem nice enough and I think they'll be pleasant enough to deal with with the management of the property and the error wasn't their fault). It's just the agent that I'm so !!!!ed off with - we've paid out a small fortune on fees for their service and they've been appalling. I guess we're lucky that they're not managing the property too.

I will speak to the landlord about it and if it puts them of using the agent again then I guess that's a mini victory!

The first thing you need to do is make a complaint to the letting agent. The second thing to do is make a complaint to the association that the letting agent is affiliated to. All letting agents must have registered.

See here:

http://www.landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/1st-october-date-confirmed-letting-agent-redress

I also suggest that you inform your landlord what has happened and let him follow the same complaint procedure.

In you decide to pay the rent that you originally signed for then the landlord would have to sort this out with the letting agent and sue them for the remainder of the rent/whatever.

Your choice about whether you pay the 'new' rent or not. Only a court could decide whether the original contract stood.

Morally you knew what the rent was and should, perhaps, have pointed this out when you signed the contract.

But the letting agents have messed up badly and should be reported.

Tigsteroonie

peachyy wrote: »

Yes that is true - I'm ok with paying the £650 to the landlord (they seem nice enough and I think they'll be pleasant enough to deal with with the management of the property and the error wasn't their fault). It's just the agent that I'm so !!!!ed off with - we've paid out a small fortune on fees for their service and they've been appalling. I guess we're lucky that they're not managing the property too.

You've paid the fees that are part of taking on the tenancy from that landlord via that agent; whether the agent has forged signatures onto a new agreement or not, you would have had to pay those fees, so you may as well discount any thought of reclaiming.

You are now paying the rent you expected to pay, the amount you negotiated. So I don't think you should pay the lower amount, that penalises the landlord for what the agent has done.

Ultimately therefore you are not out of pocket. You are just annoyed. You don't get compensation for being annoyed. Just be grateful that you no longer have to deal with that agent, that they were only there for the introduction and all future dealings are direct with the landlord.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I would pay up, but inform the LL in writing of the errors and incompetence you have encountered. LLs are ripped off alongside tenants by agents, so it will be useful for them to see the kind of service they're paying for.

davidmcn

antrobus wrote: »

I might even make a criminal complaint, given that a crime has been committed.
http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud

Not sure it's much of a crime, given that the intention appears to have been to regularise the error in the agreement rather than make any gain. Can't see the police being interested, and if they are then inviting the cops to get involved isn't a great start to your landlord/tenant relationship!

theartfullodger

Miss_Samantha wrote: »

You could equally have corrected it yourself or point the error to them.

Sorry but you seem to be looking for trouble out of nothing for no obvious reason.

"Out of nothing for no obvious reason"?? If £25/month is nothing to you Samantha, perhaps you'd make a suitable gesture & donate nothing - £150 (6 months @ £25) - to a suitable charity..

G_M

A clerical error occurred.

The error has been corrected, though as you say not in the appropriate, transparant way.

You are now being asked to pay the rent you originaly expected, so have lost nothing.

You could indeed complain eg via the ombudsman, and/or the landlord. Oryou could simply pay the lower figure and wait till it goes to court to argue your case.

Butdo you really want to destroy your relationship right at the start of your tenancy, and guarantee receiving a S21 Notice at the 4 month point (the earliest it can be served), over an error which has not cost you anything?

csgohan4

Compo compo compo

danslenoir

Given that you verbally agreed to paying £650 a month and the first version of the tenancy agreement stating £625 was clearly an error (as you acknowledge), I think you should still pay £650 a month as originally agreed.

However, the letting agent forging your signature to try and hide their mistake is clearly very wrong. I would absolutely pursue this complaint.

Miss_Samantha

theartfullodger wrote: »

"Out of nothing for no obvious reason"?? If £25/month is nothing to you Samantha, perhaps you'd make a suitable gesture & donate nothing - £150 (6 months @ £25) - to a suitable charity..

I thought you were a proponent of doing the "British thing", which here would be to go by what was agreed instead of trying it on.
I'm disappointed...

Marvel1

Miss_Samantha wrote: »

Oh come on.

You agreed on £650. There was an error in the document, which you noticed but did not correct or report in order to try it on.

The error was spotted and corrected.

Nothing to complain about.

So you are ok with forging signatures?